Google could add a feature very similar to Apple’s Emergency SOS feature to the Pixel 9 and the upcoming Pixel Fold. This is according to whistleblower Kamila Wojciechowska, who writes for Android Authority that the company would partner with T-Mobile to offer this feature, but could add other providers later.
Much like Apple’s system, Google’s SOS feature would present future Pixel owners with a series of questions to check what’s going on, rather than leaving users to answer them. A video in the Android Authority The article shows the animation that Google will display to users to help them align the phone with a satellite.
According to Wojciechowska, here are some of the questions the feature will ask:
T-Mobile announced more than a year ago that it was partnering with SpaceX for a satellite messaging service, but didn’t specify pricing — and as of January, it was still in testing. Last year, a developer spotted some Google Messages code suggesting the feature was on the way with Garmin as the provider. Garmin offers such a service for its InReach two-way messaging devices using the Iridium satellite network, which Iridium claims can reach “anywhere on earth.”
However, whether offered by T-Mobile or Garmin, the feature won’t necessarily be free: for example, Garmin costs $15 per month to start. Then again, Apple is subsidizing its service at the moment, so maybe Google will too.
